I would like to ask that you post my comments on dove hunting. Our local chapter in Cedar Falls has sent out several anti dove hunting emails. I tried to contribute tot he discussion with an alternate view, but that was censored since they claimed it was contrary to the Iowa Sierra Club's "official position." In the past I have posted thoughts to this list serve that were controversial and may run contrary to the emotions of many in the Sierra Club, but they were not similarly censored. Please post the following: Hunting is an activity that good people have different feelings about. For all the "facts" either side might offer, they are largely nonsense and backed by an underlying emotional feeling. In what I've read, many of the assertions about doves and hunting are not true. --In the Birders Handbook, it says they form occasional pair bonds, they are not mated for life. Soon at my feeder I will again see males approach many females. --They are not the dove of peace, that dove is white and lives in Eurasia. These are mourning doves. If you shoot a dove war does not break out all over the world. The white dove is a symbol of peace. Similarly, burning our flag, the symbol of our country, does not destroy our country. --Hunters do not shoot them for target practice, every state in the Union says you legally have to retrieve and consume what you shoot. Wastage of meat is not illegal. --There is some evidence that doves at our feeders in the city are different populations from those doves hunted in the countryside. That is, they either stay in the city or in the country. --In most of Iowa dove hunting is a moot point. I have spent untold hours in the fields of northeast Iowa and there simply are not enough birds to hunt. Perhaps in western Iowa there are greater flights. --Doves are hunted on their southern migration from Minnesota and now all states southward, and it does not and will not harm the population. You might argue that we don't need to shoot doves, but then we could also argue that you don't need to see them at your feeder either. Please remember the distinction between wants and needs. Note: I love seeing doves at my feeder. Although it may be hard for nonhunters to realize, us hunters see the same beauty in nature that you do. I marvel at the feathering on a pheasant or dove, whether it is through my binoculars or in my hand. Whey do I hunt and have the feelings that I do? When I was 4 or 5 my dad had me shooting a 22 rifle. There must be a higher place in heaven for a dad that takes a noisy, squirmy 6 or 7 yr old son out hunting squirrels, pheasant and deer. So, from my youngest memories it was ok to hunt. I have a factual argument on why doves should be hunted in Iowa--as above it won't matter to many. The vast majority of money that is used for conservation of fish and wildlife in Iowa comes from hunting and fishing licenses and the taxes on items used by hunters and fisherman. For the cost of the license, I pay around $120 each year for my hunting licenses. For taxes, there is the Pitman-Robertson tax on guns, fishing poles, ammunition, etc. That contrast with the extreme dirth of money that nonhunters contribute to the DNR for land acquisition and wildlife programs. Few Iowans contribute to the nongame wildlife checkoff on our tax forms. Note: I always contribute to the nongame check off. So, I would argue that hunters should be allowed the reward of dove hunting for their massive contributions to conservation in the state. Just a humorous dove hunting story. When I moved to Kansas for grad school I went out dove hunting and mentioned it to my dad. He sent a recipe for dove stroganoff that started, take the meat from 20 doves. In three years of dove hunting I got three doves. I actually hit more with my car every year than I ever did with a shotgun. I never made dove stroganoff. Lanny Schwartz - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp